I've been in Mexico working on a project and this dish stood out. Scrambled eggs cooked separately and then drowned in tomatillo salsa, topped with a handful of chopped epazote. I love epazote. You might know how well it works with beans, black beans in particular, but it's also terrific in a quesadilla. It likes cheese a lot. Mushrooms and octopus, too. It turns out eggs are also a natural partner. Simple and perfect. Don't forget the tortillas.

I'm so glad to have chickens again! You just can't beat fresh eggs. I get a wee bit frustrated by the prices at the farmers markets here in the Bay Area but in the end, I think it's worth the extra money. But it's also worth the hassle to have a flock if you have the space and the inclination. I poached an egg and added it to a simple soup of chicken broth, bean broth, Oregano Indio and cooked nopales. If the broth is good and the eggs are fresh, you can't beat this simplicity.

A few leftovers and some milk that was about to expire led to this really fine breakfast. Ayocote beans are runner bean. Phaseolus coccineus. This family includes Scarlet Runners and Royal Corona. They tend to be big and go from starchy to creamy. They don't mind a little rough handling, which makes them great for salads but Ayocote Negros (which I used here) have a really beefy broth that's excellent on its own. Ayocote Morado are the purple version but once cooked, they're pretty interchangeable. If your milk is about to go, heat it to 180F and then add some...

My breakfast. Perfection and a good way to use up that last bit of beans you made.

Earlier, I wrote about cooking on my wood-burning stove and the success I had making grits. It was simple and fun but even having given away a lot to my mother, there was still plenty left. This morning, I gently heated the grits with a little chicken stock. Meanwhile, I sauteed some chopped bacon pieces, drained the excess fat and then stirred in some leftover Black Eyed Peas. I made a bed for the pea mixture and yes, it was ugly but so delicious that I can't wait to make it again. It fills you up and I felt I...

A present of a jar of salt-packed capers from Sicily made my breakfast this morning happily insane. No Cheerios for me. My friend Lisa Minucci of Heritage Artifacts always finds the coolest things, both vintage and new, and this jar of capers was no exception. This may turn you off them but you do need to soak them for about four hours and changing the water occasionally is recommended. But you can soak a few days worth and then let them sit in olive oil and no one will complain. A normal person would use them at this point and...

This was about as happy as I can get in the morning. Leftover Ayocote Negro (but Ayocote Morado or Scarlet Runners would be excellent as well), bean broth, chicken broth, cooked sausage and then an egg to poach in all the goodness. Then fresh mozzarella. Buttered toast. It was a fine morning.

I've been drinking chia water for some time. It's weird. The seeds are added to liquid and like oatmeal or flax, the exude a goo and it's supposed to be very healthy. In Mexico, it's normally a limeade plus the chia seeds and they go pretty light. I've asked some friends if there are health benefits to letting the water saturate the seeds. My instincts tell me yes, the seeds should rest in water for about 15 minutes before consumption but the answers I received were all over the map. Some said not to do this, others said it's better...

Go ahead and laugh but for months I've been starting my day off with Zumba exercise DVDs. It's hard work but it beats the treadmill I was using and I love how alert and awake I feel afterwards. Weight loss has eluded me but I'm more concerned about being sedentary than pounds. One thing is for certain, I can't just have a bowl of cereal after a workout. It would be too painful and my morning must contain a certain amount of pleasure. This breakfast of leftovers did it for me. My Nearly Magic Tomato sauce, some leftover Alubia Blanca...

Hello, gorgeous! It's that time of year where the flowers aren't going to turn into beans any time soon and the cold weather is on the way . These runner bean flowers are better served in other ways. For me, scrambled eggs with Hatch chiles seemed like a reasonable idea. I was right.

My favorite sentence is, I just got back from Mexico. I would like to write it more often! The down side is coming home to an empty refrigerator. This morning, after pots of French Roast coffee (the Mexicans do many things well but good coffee is mostly hidden), I made brown rice, garbanzo beans and a salsa from the new chiles I bought on my trip. They're oak-roasted heirloom chipotles from the Huasteca of Hidalgo. They are incredible and we were going try and import them but the FDA requirements are so tough that we had to pass. It's a...

Why do so many of the best dishes come from leftovers? I had made our new Caballero beans last night and for breakfast, I decided to make a quick, simple dish using up what was left and some chicken stock. You know you have a hit on your hand when someone asks how much cream or butter you used to make the pot so rich and you know you've just used water, onion, garlic and a spoonful of olive oil. These beans are wild. Heat a very few left over beans and their broth in a small pot and bring...